Hip-Hop Legend Kendrick Lamar To Headline Super Bowl 2025 Halftime Show

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At this point, Kendrick Lamar is just stat-padding. After ethering Drake in a vicious rap battle with the biggest song of the year so far, Not Like Us, the NFL announced hours before kickoff in Week 1 that Kendrick is headlining Super Bowl 2025 at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. 

This will be Lamar's second Super Bowl halftime show and first as the headliner. Kendrick previously performed with fellow Compton hip-hop icon, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, and Anderson Paak at Super Bowl 2022 in Los Angeles. The performance earned an outstanding live variety special Emmy for all the acts and producers Jay-Z and Jessie Collins. 

When asked about the Super Bowl LIX halftime show, Roc Nation CEO, and Super Bowl LIX halftime show co-promoter, Jay-Z said, "Kendrick is truly a once-in-a-generation artist and performer. He has an unparalleled ability to define and influence culture globally. [His] work transcends music, and his impact will be felt for years to come".

Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg perform in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg perform in the Super Bowl LVI halftime show at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)

Also, Lamar is headlining his second worldwide event this year. His The Pop Out: Ken & Friends concert at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, was live-streamed internationally on Amazon Prime Video and Twitch Juneteenth 2024. The Pop Out was a celebration of West Coast hip-hop and a victory lap for demolishing Drake. 

Lamar has three projects in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time", including To Pimp A Butterfly and DAMN. If Kendrick stopped doing music today, he'd retire as a top-five to top-10 rapper ever. Ultimately, the Super Bowl LIX halftime show is another bullet point in Kendrick's already legendary hip-hop resume. 

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Geoff Clark serves as OutKick’s sports betting guru. As a writer and host of OutKick Bets with Geoff Clark, he dives deep into the sports betting landscape and welcomes an array of sports betting personalities on his show to handicap America’s biggest sporting events. Previously, Clark was a writer/podcaster for USA TODAY's Sportsbook Wire website, handicapping all the major sports tentpoles with a major focus on the NFL, NBA and MLB. Clark graduated from St. John University.